It's great to feel young again. On Saturday, September 10, Canadian Olympians, local celebrities and corporate teams got to relive their childhood with a charity sports day challenge at Ritchie Bros.' headquarters in Burnaby, B.C. The best part: the event helped raise more than $516,000 for KidSport B.C., a community-based sports funding program that provides grants for financially disadvantaged children to participate in amateur sport.
This was Ritchie Bros. 7th annual Corporate Kids Challenge event for the KidSport B.C. organization. Over the years, the event has raised more than $3.4 million for KidSport, including donations made by the Province of B.C. For the second-straight year, Parliamentary Secretary for Youth Sport, Gordon Hogg, was on site for the event to present a $400,000 cheque to KidSport B.C. on behalf of the province.
"Research tells us very clearly that the biggest barrier for participation in sports is funding, which makes the work being done by KidSport and the money being raised here at the Corporate Kids Challenge event so important," said Gordon Hogg. "Instilling the value of exercise and healthy living from a young age is a great way to keep kids active throughout their lives. I'm pleased to work with a great program like KidSport that provides unique opportunities to participate in organized sport, regardless of financial barriers."
KidSport has been raising money for financially disadvantaged kids more than 20 years, changing thousands of lives in the process.
"The money raised by this event over the past seven years has literally helped thousands of kids get involved in sports that otherwise wouldn't have been able to," said Pete Quevillon, Director of KidSport BC. "Ritchie Bros. has become a family member for us at KidSport and the Corporate Kids Challenge event that they host each year is the envy of KidSport chapters across Canada – this event and our relationship with Ritchie Bros. is irreplaceable."
The Ritchie Bros. Corporate Kids Challenge is a full-day charity event, teaming up Olympic athletes and local celebrities with corporate teams from the Greater Vancouver area to participate in a series of sports day challenges. This year's event featured multiple Canadian Olympians who participated in Rio 2016, including Erica Wiebe (gold medal in wrestling); Georgia Simmerling (bronze medal in track cycling); Ghislaine Landry (bronze medal in rugby sevens); and Evan Dunfee (4th place finish in race walking). The event also included a silent and live auction.
Ritchie Bros. was the host and main sponsor of the event. Other sponsors included Bee-Clean Building Maintenance, Burnaby Firefighters Charitable Society, Creatix Business Solutions, DER Resorts, Ernst & Young, Fortius Sport & Health, Heritage Office Furnishings, Hilton Vancouver Metrotown, IT|IQ, Korn Ferry, KPMG, RBC Capital Markets, Ritchie Bros. Financial Services, Samsung, Somatic, Telus, Tippet-Richardson, Vancouver Police, and the Vancouver Canucks.
"At Ritchie Bros., we believe strongly in the power of sport and competition to positively affect peoples' lives," said Todd Wohler, Chief Human Resources Officer, Ritchie Bros. "The skills taught through sports – leadership, listening, learning, teamwork and sportsmanship combined with the joy of accomplishment – are the same skills needed to succeed in business and other aspects of life. We'd like to offer a huge thanks to all the sponsors and to our employees who have jumped on board to support this event year after year. It is a tremendous privilege to participate in such a worthwhile cause and we can't wait to do it all over again next year."
Ritchie Bros. plans to host the Corporate Kids Challenge again in 2017.
